*EPF306 12/10/2003
Text: U.S. Attorney General Signs U.N. Convention Against Corruption
(Ashcroft joins top officials from around the world for U.N. forum) (520)

The United States, represented by Attorney General John Ashcroft, signed a landmark United Nations treaty against corruption on the opening day of a December 9-12 U.N. forum in Merida, Mexico.

In a December 10 statement, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said that more than 100 additional nations are expected to sign the U.N. Convention Against Corruption during the three-day signing conference hosted by Mexican President Vicente Fox.

Boucher said the treaty requires governments to pass criminal laws against the bribing of their own and foreign officials and against other corruption-related acts such as embezzlement and money laundering. The pact also requires governments to take preventive measures against corruption, facilitates cooperation among nations for the purposes of extradition and asset recovery, and creates a vehicle for global information-sharing and technical assistance in anticorruption matters.

"The convention represents a major advance in the international fight against corruption," Boucher said.

The treaty enters into force once the legislatures of 30 signatories have ratified it.

Following is the text of Boucher's statement:

(begin text)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
December 10, 2003

STATEMENT BY RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN

Signing of the U.N. Convention Against Corruption

The United States, represented by Attorney General John Ashcroft, signed the United Nations Convention Against Corruption yesterday in Merida, Mexico. The Convention represents a major advance in the international fight against corruption. We worked hard for this result.

Over 100 additional nations are expected to sign the Convention during a High Level Signing Conference being hosted by President [Vicente] Fox and the Government of Mexico from December 9 through 11. The United States has been an active participant during the entire two-year negotiation process, and has been committed to working with participating governments to produce a convention that can have truly global acceptance and application.

The Convention contains a wide range of provisions that will strengthen international efforts to fight corruption -- in which the United States Government is already a leader -- and complement ongoing existing international initiatives in the G-8 [Group of Eight], OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development], OAS [Organization of American States], and other multilateral fora. It contributes to a number of general areas relating to a government's anticorruption efforts; including:

1. Criminalization: requires governments to criminalize the bribing of their own and foreign public officials and other corruption-related crimes such as embezzlement and money laundering.

2. Prevention: requires governments to take a number of measures to prevent corruption, including those that promote integrity among their public officials and increase the participation of civil society in the fight against corruption.

3. International cooperation, including with respect to asset recovery: provides a practical channel for governments to work together to extradite persons and exchange evidence regarding corruption offenses, and recover assets illicitly acquired by corrupt public officials.

4. Cooperation in implementation: creates a vehicle for governments to monitor implementation of the Convention and to share expertise and provide technical assistance relating to their anticorruption efforts.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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